"Generate and disseminate gender-disaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation" and to "Ensure that statistics related to individuals are collected, compiled, analysed and presented by sex and age and reflect problems, issues and questions related to women and men in society". The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, September 1995, Strategic Objective H.3.

Despite considerable progress in the status of women, gender inequalities persist. Statistics on priority gender issues are needed to support effective-policy making for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. The need for sex-disaggregated data and gender-sensitive indicators was underscored by the Beijing Platform for Action and the proceedings of the Beijing +5 conference.

Gender statistics and gender-sensitive indicators provide a factual representation of the status and conditions of women and men at every phase of the life cycle, in both the public and private spheres, and across all fields and sectors. They serve as tools in every stage of policymaking – planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and reporting, and evaluation, and are needed to set targets, benchmarks and measure progress.

The production of gender statistics draws on the work of all national statistical offices in the various line ministries and the central statistical office. Although the primary responsibility for producing statistics is that of the Government, international organizations, such as the United Nations, can assist in promoting the production and use of sex-disaggregated data and gender-sensitive indicators and in the development of standards, concepts and definitions and methodologies for data collection, analysis and dissemination, as well as strengthening national vital statistics systems . Civil society, including academia, research centers, thinks tanks, non-governmental organizations, media and the private sector, also play crucial roles as both users and producers of data.

The production of gender statistics and indicators is based on an on-going user producer dialogue whereby users can advise on key and emerging gender issues, national policies and gender-specific programmes, and the extent of data availability, accessibility and quality. In turn, statisticians provide guidance in the correct use, interpretation and analysis of gender statistics, especially for non-technical users, and integrate the gender issues and concerns raised by users in the production of statistics.